Move or copy messages

Move messages: Drag one or more messages to a mailbox in the Favorites bar or the Mail sidebar. You can also Control-click a message, choose Move To, then choose a mailbox (or use the Touch Bar).

Mail shows the mailbox you’re most likely to move a message to, based on your history of moving messages. For example, if you move messages from a certain person to a Travel mailbox, the command Move to “Travel” is available for other messages from that person. If a mailbox can’t be predicted, Message > Move to Predicted Mailbox is dimmed.

Copy messages: Press and hold the Option key when you drag messages to another mailbox. Or Control-click a message, choose Copy To, then choose a mailbox.

If you have an IMAP account and are unable to move messages, it’s possible the messages contain invalid characters (typically added by a mail server) or are too large, or you exceeded the storage limits set by your email account provider.

You can use rules to automatically move certain messages to specific mailboxes when they arrive.